Students frustrated by lack of spaces

The hot topic on campus? Forget affirmative action, academic freedom or grade inflation. What really heats up students these days is trying to find a parking spot.

University of Alabama sophomore Josh Boyd is among those frustrated with the parking situation on campus.

"I have to leave very early every morning just to hope to find a parking place," said Boyd, who lives off campus.

"It's ridiculous."

The parking problem at UA is worse this fall because of a record enrollment of more than 20,000 students, said Ronnie Robertson, assistant director of transportation services and parking.

"We always have some problems at the beginning of the year, but it tends to work itself out," he said.

Robertson said students realize after weeks of parking frustration at the beginning of each school year that they can't drive from class to class. So they begin to park in one spot and walk to each class.

"People just don't want to park in outlying areas, and I understand that, but not everyone can park by the door of their classroom," he said. "If you go to downtown Tuscaloosa, there's no parking in front of the store you want to go to."

UA has 14,890 parking spaces for more than 20,000 students and more than 3,000 faculty members. About 18,409 parking decals were issued this year.

The ratio of decals to parking spaces is worse at Auburn University, where about 10,300 spaces serve 18,000 student, faculty and staff permits.

Matt Collins, a fifth-year senior, joked that when a student walks into a parking lot at Auburn, a car usually follows them -- not to make a pass, but to get their spot.

"That tells you how bad it is," Collins said.

Other universities have similar problems. Louisiana State University has 21,500 spaces for 32,000 students. Penn State has 13,000 spaces for 42,000 students.

"All universities have more students than they have parking spaces," Robertson said.

If universities had an even ratio of parking spots and students, then/sparking lots would be half empty most of the time because not all students are on campus at the same time, Robertson said.

With more undergraduates bringing cars to campus, students are getting irked over costly permits and parking violations.

Some universities reap millions of dollars from fees and fines but must deal with traffic congestion and complaints.

UA freshman Lora Allen said she's already paid several fines for illegal parking since classes began last month.

"I'd rather have to pay $5 than be late for class," she said.

But those fines can add up. Robertson said only the first fine is $5. The next four fines are $10, and the sixth and subsequent fines are $25.

On the seventh fine, a wheel lock is put on the illegally parked car and the owner must walk to the transportation services building to pay the fine and get the lock taken off the vehicle.

Robertson said car owners paid $674,574 in parking fines at UA last year.

Following a recommendation by UA's traffic and parking committee, the transportation department implemented a new program this year which requires freshmen to park only in those zones on campus designated as parking for all decals. Most of these lots are on the fringe areas of campus or behind Parker-Adams Hall, a freshman dormitory.

Allen said she keeps her car parked behind the hall.

"I can't go out during certain times of the day because there are no parking spaces when I get back," she said.

To alleviate current woes and plan for future growth, UA officials plan to build a new parking deck and expand two existing ones.

Bids were let recently for a new deck to be built on Campus Drive, across from Shelby Hall. The deck is scheduled to be completed by spring 2005 and will add 620 parking spaces.

Bids also were let for a horizontal expansion of the parking deck near the Ferguson Center. The expansion will add 525 parking spaces in fall 2004.

The cost of the two projects is expected to be just more than $10 million, Robertson said.

An expansion of the parking deck near ten Hoor Hall is in the design phase, Robertson said. That project will probably add another 500 parking spots, he said.

For now, Robertson said students can use other methods to get to class.

"Hopefully, they'll start to use the Tuscaloosa Trolley more, ride their bicycles or walk to class," he said.

Sophomore Tony Dreher agrees that some of the congestion problems can be prevented. He lives near campus, on Broad Street, and rides his bicycle to class.

"It's mostly people who use their car unnecessarily causing the problems," he said.